Cassette carriers are often used to transport finished semiconductor wafers prior to dicing. However, these carriers suffer from certain drawbacks. Current cassette carriers maintain excessive space between wafers, taking up too much volume in transport and resulting in unnecessary expense. This is especially the case in situations involving scrap wafers, when wafer-to-wafer contact is of little concern. Wafers are also subject to handling damage when they are removed from cassette carriers, resulting in reduced process yields and other inefficiencies.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to stack wafers more compactly, so that they occupy less volume in transport. It would also be desirable to stack wafers in a manner that minimizes handling damage.